Typically, single discreet documents are folded and advanced along a path of travel in a machine having an inserting apparatus for receiving the folded document into an envelope. There are inserting machines in use in the field which are adapted to have multiple station feeding devices for feeding 81/2.times.11 inch, single documents to a folding device. The folded documents are then inserted to a waiting envelope located at a downstream location of the machine. Currently, there is a requirement to rapidly accumulate, and then fold a plurality of documents which have been prestacked at a registration position. The result is that a folded set of documents is produced which represents a single package suitable for insertion into an envelope.
In both of the preceding described instances, the discreet documents are generated from perforated, continuous webs which are guided through a bursting apparatus position at an upstream location in the path of travel of the documents through the apparatus. A receiving and supporting station is located downstream in the path of travel, such that the stack of documents is accumulated on a support surface prior to entering the folding device.
There is a problem with respect to accurately folding a stack of documents at one time since the paper path of the documents to be folded must be such that the documents are guided along an angular path away from the normal path of travel constituting a substantially straight path through the apparatus. When the stack of documents is guided along such a diverted angular path, the outermost document of the stack travels a shorter distance than the inside document when the stack is positively pushed or conveyed by cooperating pairs of feeding rollers. The result is that no two of the documents in the folded stack have exactly the same fold and, as mentioned, this creates a problem where there are varying folded sizes of the documents, some of which may exceed the size of the opened envelope, thereby preventing insertion.
Therefore, the present invention has evolved, and is briefly described within the following summary where the benefits of the invention are explained.